Brendan Sorsby weighs supplemental draft move after Texas Tech leave
Brendan Sorsby is weighing whether to enter the supplemental draft this summer while on indefinite leave from Texas Tech and under gambling-related investigation. The Texas Tech quarterback also has an appeal route open if he wants another college season, putting his football future and the school’s quarterback planning on the same timeline.
Texas Tech and June 30
Sorsby has requested an expedited appeal process and retained lawyer Jeffrey Kessler for a possible eligibility battle. If he declares for the supplemental draft by June 30, he would put his name into a market that has not carried this kind of weight in years.
That possibility is rare enough on its own. One executive said, “If he comes out in the supplemental draft, he’s going to be the most consequential prospect in a long, long time,” and another added, “This is a player who is in the conversation for the top two rounds next year in the draft.”
Indiana betting probe
The NCAA is investigating Sorsby for allegedly betting on Indiana football games in 2022 while he was a redshirt freshman at Indiana. Ohio gambling officials are also investigating him in an integrity case, and he entered a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction while taking the indefinite leave.
That mix leaves the draft question tied directly to the eligibility question. He could try to play another college season through the appeal process, or he could move on to the supplemental draft this summer and force teams to judge him against the uncertainty around the investigation.
Draft value around Sorsby
Evaluators have not treated him like a fringe name. Multiple evaluators believed it was plausible Sorsby would have been drafted ahead of Ty Simpson if he had been in the 2026 class, even though Simpson went No. 13 to the Los Angeles Rams.
He spent the past two seasons at Cincinnati, and one executive described the broader read on him this way: “He’s one of the guys who (scouts) were excited to evaluate. They were excited (about) this year and saw steady progression.”
The push and pull now is straightforward. Sorsby can keep fighting for eligibility, or he can make the supplemental draft relevant again by declaring before June 30, with his status at Texas Tech and his place in the next quarterback market both hanging on the choice.
